To take the biscuit
by The-King-Alexander
Summary: Silver is a small business owner of a bakery with his friend Blaze and his mother Rouge. He finds himself smitten with the owner of a tattoo parlour from across the street, Rouge finds out and tries to set them up together. However, due to Silver being trans, he fears that his crush won't be so open-minded and reject him, so he tries to stay at a distance and admire him from afar.
1. Chapter 1

**Little side note, I got the idea for this story from a Shadilver group that helped me figure out what I wanted to do for my first Shadilver fic. All characters are of a different age category in order to fit my own headcanons on the story. Also the synopsis for this fic might be a little controversial but just to avoid any backlashing comments I might get, I would like to make it clear that I myself am transgender and writing a personal headcanon as well as venting through my favorite character and my favorite ship on the same pitfalls of falling in love and fearing you won't be accepted.  
**

 **with that explanation, you may read and enjoy, constructive criticism is very welcomed.**

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It was an early morning one day in Mobotropolis, the sun wasn't up yet but despite that alarms were going off for some people, buses were just starting up to start their day of transporting people, some business was just setting up for a busy day. One on a crowded lane with other shops and stores was a humble looking bakery. Simple yet welcoming design on the exterior with large letters on a wide window reading, 'Little Shop of Sweets.' A silver colored hedgehog walked out of the bakery's door with a slight but pleasant ring as he stepped outside, he sets down a welcome mat and looks across the street. From there he takes a glance to the other side of the street, there was a shop, a tattoo parlour to be precise. He scanned the shop, looking at the large glass window that his own shop also used for something. He squinted a bit, slightly leaning in.

"Silver, what are you doing?" A voice chimed in behind him, this caused Silver to flinch and turn around.

He saw a purple cat dressed in casual wear with an apron over them. "Silver, you okay?" She asked.

He gave her a smile and waved his hand. "Yeah, I'm fine, just lost in thought Blaze."

"Well come on then, we're about to open and I need to get the kitchen in order." Blaze, the purple cat informed him, walking away.

Silver looked at her and back to the tattoo parlour, he sighed disappointedly and went back in the store. He followed Blaze into another room through a doorway behind the display case. They found themselves in a sizable kitchen; the room has several ovens along the wall with a larger one in the corner of the room, an island of counters in the center with a rack above each of them with various pots, pans, and utensils. There were several heavy-duty doors one wall to their right with labels on them marking which were 'Fridge' and 'Freezer'. On the left were normal looking doors with labels of 'Pantry' and 'Manager's office.'

Blaze walks over to a large oven, she starts tinkering with it while Silver leaves her to it and goes to a door that leads to a pantry, he takes out some items that they will need when they start baking. He takes out various ingredients of chocolate chips, baking soda, baking powder, etc. He sets them on the countertops, heading to some shelves on the opposite end that had more pots and various sized bowls, he took some of them that he believes they would be using and set them on the counters. He looks to where Blaze was, finding her not there, hearing a door open he turns his attention to the fridge, where he sees Blaze pulling a sheet pan rack out of the fridge behind her. The rack was filled with sheets that had various baked goods laid neatly grouped together.

"I'm going to bring these to the front, you got things here?" She asks.

Silver nods his head and Blaze pulled the rack out to the other room, Silver then looked at his set up, he made sure he had everything he needed before he headed towards the fridge, he grabbed another rack and pulled it to the front. Passing Blaze and instead went to the store and placing more baked goods on displays that had the appropriate label near them. While he was doing this, the door opened with a slight ring to it. Both him and Blaze looked up to a see a white bat, her hair swept to the side as she takes off her jacket. She looks at Silver and smiles, making her way over to him.

"My baby boy, how are you today?" She cooed, bringing him into a hug.

Silver squeaks, feeling a great pressure being put on him as he is hugged by her. The woman slightly rocks from side to side, while having Silver in her arms before she finally let's go.

"I'm fine, mom. Just setting up is all." Silver explains, brushing himself off.

Blaze speaks out. "We're almost done here so we'll get baking soon, any orders come in Rouge?"

The white bat, Rouge shook her head. "Sorry Hun, none so far but I can assure you that once I enter that office I'm going to be swamped." She sighed, patting Silver's head.

"I'll be there if you need my help with the register." She bids goodbye, slipping behind the counter and to the door towards the kitchen.

Silver and Blaze went back to work with filling out the displays and making the shop look appealing. When they were done they pushed the racks back into the kitchen and got started to bake. In another three hours, they would open so they needed to get baking immediately.

Not even long after opening, the shop was already filled with customers browsing the displays, purchasing a few of the baked goodies but not only that but during that time they got a mess of orders. They were mostly orders of cakes for some special occasions on this day. Silver and Blaze went to work pushing out multiple orders for them while baking their own stuff they needed for their storefront. Rouge occasionally came back to get trays of the baked goods and refilled the displays or to give them more orders she got on the phone or from customers in line as she worked the front.

Blaze packed the orders and set them to the side as Silver passed them to her as he got them done until they were done, Blaze took them and loaded them in on the company van, then leaving to bring them to their respective customers. Silver was left alone baking and refilling the displays out front and filling in-house orders. He was a little stressed and worn from all this work, but he was a determined person who never gave up simply because he was tired. He powered through it until Blaze came back and they both worked together. The entire day was blurred from the work until it was closing time. They had shooed the last bit of customers away with their purchase and turned off the open sign. They closed earlier than most shops around four o'clock, so they can have time to bake and restock their supply of baked goods. Blaze was taking down the remaining displays and packaging them out. They were going to cycle out these recipes and use different ones for the next several days, it was their way of keeping things new and fresh and gave them some popularity.

They got to take home the remaining baked goods after the day was done, Silver had finished packaging his and his mother's portion in two separate boxes. He looked up and out the large window by the cash register. His heart then leaped when he saw a figure standing in the window across the street. The figure he saw was a tall male hedgehog, his black quills streaked with red; they looked as if they were cleaning their tools. Silver stood dazed as his eyes scanned what he can see of the black hedgehog, he pouted at the fact that his view was heavily limited by the space between their shops. He sighed, disappointed as he grabs the box of goodies. He stops, looking down at the box and back to the hedgehog in the window. An idea came to mind, a spur of the moment at best and one he was sure to regret but he was going purely on his determination to go through with it and beat himself up over it later.

He took one of the boxes, going outside and walking several feet down the street to wait at a crosswalk for traffic to cease for him to pass. His eyes glued to the tattoo shop as he crossed, his pace quicken as he got closer until he broke into a short jog to the shop's door. He preened his quills to make them look presentable, breathing in deep and exhaling as he pushed the door open. A soft ring was heard as he entered the store, it was noticeably different than his own shop as it sported a very dark look to it. The walls were painted black, the furniture was leather and a deep red color with decorations being figurines of a dark macabre feel, the only thing that wasn't so off-putting were framed photos of various tattoos of different styles from just pictures, just words and a combination of both. It was oddly comforting to see them, and he felt a little out of place in here. The fact that the speakers in the room were playing metal band music didn't make him feel any more like he belonged here.

"Can I help you?"

Silver nearly jumped, his head snapping to his side. He saw the same Black hedgehog he saw earlier standing behind a counter, his hands on a book as he put it down on the counter. Silver was like a deer in the headlights, this was the first time he saw them this close and was able to behold the center of his fixation in their full glory, he couldn't help but stare. His eyes scanned them, from their perfectly sculpted face to his perfectly proportioned body, and his that white puffy chest hair of his- my god- He felt himself drooling a little. The tank top only showed a bit of the top part, but Silver can only imagine what the rest looked like under it.

"You okay?" The hedgehog asked, his eyebrow quirking.

Silver snapped his attention back to them, He couldn't say anything. He was stunned and terrified, he had what he wanted to say in his head, but all his mouth would produce was silence. His eyes darted around the room for anything to get him out of this situation until he spotted a small card holder holding a stack of them. They looked like business cards, so he reached for it.

"I was just in here for once of these!" He blurted out, panicked and smiling awkwardly. "Yep, just had to see what the rave was about this place. Had to see what everyone was talking about- "

He then quickly looked at the card and saw the name of the shop and the owner, Shadow the hedgehog. He final knew his name after just senselessly staring at him from afar for months. Realizing the silence, he created from staring at the card he snapped back to the conversation.

"Yeah, just had to see what the deal was with 'The Devil's parlour' and the wonderful owner that is, Shadow the Hedgehog!" Silver was nervous, sweating beading down his face as he constructed his lie on the spot.

Shadow just stared at him, tilting his head to the said as he replied. "Thanks? It's nice to know the word is getting around." He then opened the cash register's drawer, counting the profits he made.

Silver bite his lip, he had to latch onto this or risk looking awkward and like a creep. "Uh, yeah! Heard lots of great things about this place from friends of mine, and just general chatter in public areas. You are a really skilled artist to be able to produce the same design or create a new one from entirely just scratch!" Shadow seemed to be caught off guard by this, almost embarrassed as well. "Uh, thanks. Not every day I hear that."

"What? Really? Not even while you're working? Well, that's a bummer because you must be the best damn tattoo artist I've ever seen." He was really kissing ass with his overuse of compliments, but he didn't know any other way to talk to them without rambling.

Shadow seemed to look down at a bit and back to Silver. "Thanks." He simply said.

Silver still had his nervous smile on his face, the pressure building up inside him as he observed the taller hedgehog. Then without expecting it, Shadow gave him a small smile, oh boy that's done it. His face lit up red seeing Shadow's smile, his heart racing as he just slammed the box of baked goods down and ran out the door. He didn't bother looking back as he ran across the street barely avoiding getting bumped and dodged into his own shop. He ducked behind a wall, his heart pacing as he peaked out and saw Shadow just staring at where he ran to and down to the box. Silver groaned, his back pressed firmly against the wall, sliding down in shame.

"Why did I do that…" he moaned, covering his face.

He couldn't believe he just made awkward conversation with him, the man he fucking adored with his life and now fucked it up because he couldn't take seeing that man smile like that. It was so, warm and welcoming how can he not overreact to that? He shook his head and looked back out the window again and did not see the hedgehog there, he sighed. He got up and walked back to the counter to which he heard Rouge's voice.

"There you are, Blaze was looking for you. She wanted help with baking the bread and you know I can't help with that." Rouge said, holding up her perfectly manicured nails.

Silver smiled nervously, he nodded and headed back into the kitchen where he saw Blaze hard at work. She was placing the risen dough into pans and trays with effortless grace as she has done this time and time again with years of practice. It was the very reason he wanted her hired on, she was fast and efficient as well as careful. She never did anything half-assed, so she was the perfect for helping him with the baking, without her he wouldn't know what to do if it was just him. He walked over to a sink and quickly washed his hands and getting an apron on, he headed over to a counter and started to create his own dough. Blaze seemed to have noticed him but somehow with the look in her eye, she knew he was dealing with something, so she left him alone. He appropriated this, deciding to take his anger out on this dough when it's time to knead it.

There was one thing he knew, never to go near Shadow ever again.


	2. Chapter 2

After an entire afternoon of baking with Blaze and putting away their hard work, the time was eight pm. While they cleaned up Rouge was tallying up the orders they gotten throughout the day and after closing time, they gotten a few orders for cakes and dessert platters on later dates, so they marked the calendar is Rouge's office for reminders. The next week was going to be a busy week for Silver and Blaze as it's completely booked, they might have to call in one of their casual workers to help him. Silver always lamented that they can never hire some of them on but with the money they are making and how it always goes to equipment maintenance, supplies and rent on their space with their paychecks for all three of them being second. They just couldn't make enough money to hire someone else and give them a reasonable paycheck hence the reason why Silver's bakery is a 'small' business. Even with Rouge's endorsement from her successful club there just hasn't been much business other then mothers and their screaming children fore sweets, lonely men and women eating their feelings or couples looking for something to share.

If Silver's shop was a little more popular throughout the city, then just on the street and the regulars they come then he would have had more help then just him and Blaze in the kitchen baking and Rouge acting as both cashier and manager of nearly everything. His mother has been complaining about being behind on the paperwork for both her club and his bakery and has tries to convince Silver to let her pay for whatever other casuals they want to hire on to make things easier, but he refuses every time. Silver wasn't about leeching off his mother's success and wanted to try and make something of himself.

Blaze and Silver finished cleaning up the kitchen, Rouge was finished up in the office as she walked out and locked her office door. Blaze had gather up her things and left out the back door, she bid her goodbyes to the pair before she walked out and locked the back door. Rouge and Silver left out the front door, Rouge grabbing the single box left on the counter. When outside after Silver had locked the door, he turned and caught a glimpse of the Devil's parlour and grimaced at what he did earlier. He still can't believe he did that and only hoped that all the shame and anger he felt at himself didn't sour the taste of the desserts and bread he made. He walked to Rouge's car that were parked out front, settling into the passenger seat and Rouge getting in the driver's side. She started up the car and before they left he looked back at the tattoo shop, it was long closed, and he wasn't expecting to see Shadow again, but he can't help but just stare.

When they drove away from the shop Rouge tried to start conversations with Silver.

"So, I noticed that your box was missing. Did you eat your goodies before you got home?" Rouge teased.

Silver gave a nervous laugh. "No, I gave them to Blaze. I thought she'd appreciate them more."

"Hm, I suppose so. She's a bigger fan of your own recipes then the ones you guys make from the books." She commented, going back to focusing solely on the road.

Silver was somewhat relieved about her buying into his lie, he thought she'd see right through it but they both are tired. Silver was sore from his neck, shoulder and fingers from kneading, mixing and having to be so precise in his measurements and decorating; Rouge was mentally exhausted from calculating their profits, calling up their small pool of suppliers and calling around to get orders clarified and ensured about their service will always be perfect. He can't imagine how hard it must be for her to deal with people, from handling his customers and the suppliers along side running her own club and her own suppliers, her customers and her employees. He felt a little bad for her signing on to be his manager, but he never asked her too and she insisted she'd help. He only hopes his shop gets popular enough, so he can hire on another manager to limit her commitment to be his manager.

After a long drive, they finally reached their home which was a very large building. It looked to be a hotel but was in fact a very fancy building filled with suites of vast apartments, Rouge got this from her earnings of the success of her club, Silver has lived here for most of his childhood and teen years. They parked the car and walked to the front door, passing through the lovely and neatly well-kept lobby towards the elevators. Rouge and Silver were silence throughout the elevator ride to when they finally got to the fourth floor and to their own apartment. Like the rest of the building, their apartment was very lavish, modern and very large. It was far too big for two people to leave in, but his mother has always been one for the lavish lifestyle.

"Do you want a late supper or order something fast?" Rouge asked him, taking off her coat and boats.

"Order something like pizza, I don't really feel like we really want to spent time cooking when we're both tired." Silver answered,

"Alright, meat-lover's?" She asked, walking over to the corded phone on the wall leading towards the living room.

"Always." Silver replied rather excited.

Rouge giggled at his response and dialed the number, Silver didn't stay long enough for her to start ordering as he immediately walked towards his room, passing the living room and heading up a spiraling flight of stairs to the second floor to his bedroom. His bedroom was very child-like compared to someone else around his age, being nearly twenty years old he still had posters, action-figures and graphic novels of famous superheroes, books of heroism and adventure, various recipe books by famous and world-renown chefs and tiny little DIY charms and little dessert, food like trinkets. His bedroom clearly showed Silver's personality by heart, being as old as him he still held onto that child-like wonderment.

He walked over to his dresser, taking his clothes off and throwing them into the nearby basket and took off his binder. He sighed, relieved that the pressure on his chest was finally off and letting his breasts hang free as he took out a large t-shirt and pulled it over his head, this left him in only a t-shirt and his underwear, a comfortable set of clothes for him after a long day of work. He went to lay on his bed until it was time to eat. He pulled up his laptop on his lap, opening his social media tabs, he checked his bakery's Instagram for any new comments on the pictures he posted the day before. As he browsed, he found himself fighting against his urge to check if The Devil's parlour had an account. He tried to distract himself by checking his emails, looking at the newsletters he signed up to from baking websites, checking the recipes that they came up with and giving his criticism about the presentation on the picture and the methods used on said website. He kept looking over at the Instagram tab every now and then, he bites his lip and sighed. Clicking on the tab and typing in the tattoo parlour's name, his heart leaping when he found out, he nervously clicked on the name and was brought to their page. He was in complete awe, the pictures posted were of various sketches and art, some were tattoos he's done on customers and some where framed ones he hoped to be able to do.

The passion Shadow had put into these designs moved silver, he lost track of the time as he browsed the massive amounts photos of just sketches and general art to framed tattoo designs. He had a slight blush come to his cheeks as he saw photos of Shadow, selfies with him and a few customers of his. He noticed Knuckles, Sonic, an intimidating robot, etc. He found himself opening multiple tabs of those photos just for him to stare at. Shadow looked very attractive in a few outfits he was seen in the photos, he wore a leather jacket with a band's logo on it along with his various t-shirts, some were band shirts and showed him at concerts. The comments on the photos of him were exactly how he felt about Shadow and refused to say it out loud; they all thought he was hot and asked if he was single or not. There were no replies to these comments and only replies to his posts on his tattoo designs and his art, this cause a small nervousness in him to stir that he never answered if he was single or not. This feeling was interrupted when his door was abrupted opened, Silver flinching and nearly tossing his laptop off his lap.

Rouge stood in the door way with a plate and glass of pop. "Oh sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"Ah, no you just startled me." He explained, setting his laptop down.

Rouge then walked in, setting the plate of pizza and the glass down on the bedside table before she sat down on his bed.

"Hon, you alright? You were quiet when I found you. Something wrong?" Rouge sounded sympathetic, as she put her hand on his shoulder.

His eyes darted away, looking in the other way but Rouge brought his attention back to her as she spoke again.

"Don't look away from me, I know something is getting at you. What is it? Your binder too tight? I can get a new one made, the place I get from my custom bras from also specializes in binders as well." She stated, Silver reacted by putting his arms over his chest a little embarrassed.

"What? No! It's fine." Silver retorted.

"…Is this about the state of the bakery?" She asked.

"No, that's not what's bothering me." Silver huffed.

Rouge quirked her brow, she then turned towards his computer and from there her eyes widen. Silver then noticed her gaze, he looked over and saw a picture of Shadow. He had a mini heartache as he quickly slammed the computer closed, his face blushing red as he looked at the expression Rouge gave him. She had a smirk on his face with her narrowed in a way as if she saw right through him. He couldn't think of what to say as she simply got up and left the room, shooting him a glance as she turned off the light. Silver was shaken up, he couldn't move, and his heart was skipping beat and beat again at what his own mother saw. The picture wasn't anything naughty, it was just an aesthetic looking selfie of Shadow, but it was enough for Rouge to shoot him that knowing look. Now he can't even look at her now that she thinks he's staring at pictures of cute boys, alone in his room, with very little clothes on; gods that paints a horrible mental picture when viewed in that context.

Silver sighed, his face still blushing red as he pushed his computer to the side. He doesn't think he'll ever be able to look at his mother straight without thinking of this moment, he turns on the lamp on the table and takes the pizza she left, trying to eat before he went to bed. He set the plate and the empty glass aside, turned off the light and got covered up in the blankets and curled up. He's got another embarrassing day of avoiding his mother's knowing gaze and fighting the urge to unload this all onto Blaze. He doesn't want to trouble her with his own problems as she already has a lot to worry about with living both her boyfriend and his girlfriend in a tiny house. She had enough stress as it is, and he didn't want to add his own bullshit onto hers, sometimes he wished he could though. His mother wasn't very reliable when it came to boys, she tried to set him up with several of them simply because she found out he had a crush on them, now that she knows about this he can't imagine how she'd going to take this, god if she finds them and tries to set up a date with him he's going to scream.

However, he doubts Shadow would ever be into him. Even if he likes men, Silver isn't the typical kind of men and he feels he'd be disgusted by him. From experience, Silver has learned that when he was young and tried to get on the dating scene. He tried to get intimate and sexual with the few boyfriends he had during high school, but it all fell apart when the truth came out. He knew it was just best to look like a creepy stalker then being perceived negatively, he sighed, he only hopes he can continue only admiring his current crush through the wide window of their shop and maybe dropping boxes of cakes and cookies off while they're not looking.

One can only hope.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning went by very fast, Silver woke up at five am along with Rouge. They got dressed quickly and had a quick breakfast for themselves before heading off to work, they arrived there thirty minutes after. Silver opened the front door, the slight ringing welcoming them inside as they stepped through the front and to the kitchen. Blaze was already there and setting up, firing up the large oven and getting the things, they'll need ready on the countertops.

"You're in early, how long have you been here?" Silver questioned, taking off his jacket and putting an apron on.

"Had to deal with stuff at home, got out of hand and didn't really want to stay here long." Blaze explained.

"Oh, did something happen?" Silver asked, slightly concerned.

"Yeah, some personal junk. Knuckles and Shade are getting irritated with the bills having to be unevenly split. Knuckles is very stressed from his job while Shade and I are the only ones with actual paying jobs, so between us." Blaze explained, sighing as she looked annoyed. "It's getting horrible and I'm almost exhausted from this."

Silver listened to her troubles as he cleaned his hands, feeling a twinge of guilt for Blaze. He knew of her troubles at home, Knuckles was the appointed guardian of the Master Emerald by the rite of his ancestors and while it was important it didn't make any money. Shade and Blaze had to take up the workload and tensions were rising between them and it was sad since they were such good friends when Blaze was brought into the relationship. To hear that they were fighting over money and letting it get in-between them was heart-breaking.

They were so happy two years ago and now it's risking falling apart. Silver has always felt bad about being well-off compared to them and wishes he could just give her money but like him, Blaze was stubborn and was intent on being independent. He wished he could pay her more, but he was already splitting the cash up unevenly with him getting the smallest portion out of Rouge and Blaze's pay. He could try and cut from Rouge's check, but he wanted to pay them evenly, he sighed and walked over to her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, giving her a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry you're dealing with that right now if you want I could give you a temporary raise if that will help your living situation." Silver offered.

Blaze shook her head. "No, it's fine, I know you barely have enough to pay for us and this shop's expenses. If you give me a raise, you'll be taking it from the expenses and I don't want that."

"But, I don't want this to ruin your relationship. You can always quit and find another well-paying job, I won't be mad if you do."

"Silver- "

"No, I'm serious Blaze, if the fact that my shop can't help pay your bills then I'm failing at best. I can't keep you on if you're going to sacrifice your Knuckles and Shade for it." Silver huffed.

Blaze looked to the side. "Look, your shop isn't failing. You have wonderful recipes that create tasty treats and are good at making them appealing to eat. It's just bad luck that this venue isn't high-traffic as it was when you first bought it. That's not your fault and I'm proud to work here. I helped get this place off the ground and to abandon it would be careless of me," She sighed. "Besides, you're my friend. I would hate to have to make you do this on your own."

Blaze was so assuring, so determined and so loyal; she was the best friend anyone can ask for. Silver couldn't help but Smile, he was thankful for her as if it wasn't for Blaze he would have never gone through with opening this place up after he got his certificate. He owed her just as much as his own mother for helping him open his business, but he still felt somewhat responsible for her situation.

"But, let's put that behind us. We're already behind on baking and we need to get to it." Blaze flashed a smile. Silver nodded and grabbed a recipe book.

In no time Silver and blaze were busy at work at making fresh loaves of bread from the frozen dough they made yesterday after it thawed, getting the desserts and other baked goods from the fridge to put out. Rouge helped with displaying them in an appealing manner and putting them in their correct space while the duo baked away. When it was time to open, Rouge was too caught up in answer phone calls and getting the paperwork done in her office that Blaze had to leave Silver to work the front. Silver didn't mind as he was fine on his own, this gave him the chance to use his powers.

Ever since he was born Silver has always displayed psychic potential, his mother Rouge has always been telling him about how much of a little monster he was when he used it t cause havoc in her house. Silver was unsure about where he got his powers from, Rouge had taken him to the doctor, but they even couldn't figure out if these were something he developed naturally or was inherited. Rouge never talked about his father much, simply saying it was never meant to be and of how much he looked like his father was all he ever known about him. He liked to think his father was a cool psychokinesis hedgehog sometimes.

With a flick of his wrist and a twirl of his finger, he was able to manage both his and Blaze's work with ease. When he was finished with a batch of cupcakes, he put them neatly on a tray and brought them to the front. As he was about to fully leave the kitchen's door way he yelped and ducked back into the kitchen he was careful as to not toss the cupcakes as he cowered. He peaked through the door a tiny bit to see what caused him to hide; Shadow.

He couldn't understand why he was here, did he catch who he was? Did he accidentally him on Instagram and forget about it? Oh god he can't think of how embarrassing it was. He kept looking to see him chatting up with Blaze at the till. He couldn't hear what they were saying, and he was curious, he set the tray down on a table nearby and quickly tried to find something to hide his quills. He spotted Blaze's hat and decided that it will do. He tied his quills back into a bun and put the hat on before he headed out the door with the tray of cupcakes. The store was busy with some people here and there just browsing and kids drooling as they looked at the tasty treats. He snuck close to the display behind the counter and started to restock the cupcakes there.

"-I thought I'd drop by and see what this place was about." He heard Shadow's voice.

"I see, well is there any reason other than returning our takeout box?" Blaze asked.

"Yeah, never paid any attention to this place when it first opened across the street but yesterday some guy gave me this and ran." Oh god, he was referencing when he made a joke of himself.

"Oh? Well lucky that the box was one of our branded one. What did you think of the sweets?" Blaze sounded curious.

"They were pretty good and I'm not a sweets kind of guy, but they weren't as overly sweet as some places make them." Silver's heart leaped at the compliment. Shadow liked his baking? "Am I to thank you for that?"

"Oh no, I only help make them. Silver is the one who comes up with the recipes, we rarely use ones from cookbooks because of his genius." Silver was feeling himself blush at this wave of compliments.

He knew he was great at baking, but he didn't think his recipes were that great, at least until hearing his best friend and crush talk about them now.

"Oh? Well, can you tell him I really appreciate the sweets that guy dropped off? And I would like to place an order for a dessert platter."

Silver choked, putting the last cupcakes in their place before he rushed back to the kitchen, taking her cap off and untying his quills but was caught in the act as Blaze walked in.

"Oh, that's a cute look." Blaze commented.

Silver flushed red. "Ah- Blaze." He whined.

She giggled. "Well it's true, anyways some guy wanted me to compliment you for a box of sweets he got. Said they were really good and that you should be proud of them."

He nodded. "Well tell him I said thank you. Is there anything else?"

"Yeah, he wants a platter of various desserts. Said he wanted it to be an indefinite order so he put it up in his shop and direct revenue our way." She said with a smile.

"Really? That's great!" Silver felt overwhelmingly happy. He wondered why he wanted a dessert platter for himself but to find out it was for his shop was a twist. If he kept this order up then whatever customers Shadow got would be directed to him, he could probably break the maximum amount of money they make usually. He can finally give Blaze a raise!

"How soon does he need it?" Silver asked.

"immediately but he's willing to wait for a call." Blaze informed him.

Silver gasped. "I gotta get this done! Anything else needing to be restocked while I'm at it?"

"Not much, we need a plate of red velvet cake, a dozen marble cupcakes, lemon squares and a dozen buttermilk braided bread." Blaze listed them off.

Silver nodded and got to work. He focuses his time mainly on Shadow's dessert platter. It was a pretty big platter that he cuts the size down by putting them on a tiered one to make it look fuller and manageable to be displayed on a counter top. He got them done along with the cake, the cupcakes and it packaged the platter for Blaze to deliver, he couldn't bare to do it himself not after that blunder yesterday. He watched her walk across the street to Shadow's parlour and through the window saw them talking to each other before giving him the large box. He looked happy as he displayed it proudly on his counter, he smiled. Absolutely happy with how he liked the beautiful display he made and how visually appealing the desserts were. Blaze came back to the shop and he went back to the kitchen with a skip in his step and flutter in his heart. Shadow loved his baking and put in an indefinite order and was giving him more customers. This would be more romantic if he came clean with Shadow, he didn't appear to know who he was when talking to Blaze so that was good and seemed to separate when he first saw meet him as an entirely different person giving Shadow the illusion he's the greatest baker ever with a bumbling fool giving the box by chance. Silver was incredibly happy as he baked to restock and worked the kitchen by himself for the remainder of the day until it was closing time. It was stressful but by accounts of Blaze they did indeed make more money this day then they usually did. Silver couldn't have been happier as Shadow kept to his promise and directed the customers to his shop, he was so happy that he hugged Blaze and was far too giddy for any real conversation to take place. Blaze had a good laugh with him as they cleaned the kitchen and putted away stuff and prepared their materials for tomorrow.

Rouge was a little stressed but seeing Silver happy made her power through her paperwork and in the first time in awhile was finished with the bakery's paperwork, she celebrated by opening a bottle of wine (one of several) for this and congratulated Silver on making more money for the shop today. They were happy as they drank and laughed, Blaze was able to leave early and with a heft bundle of sweets as a reward for her good work at networking. Silver cleaned the place up himself and gotten all their prep work done for tomorrow, so he sat in Rouge's office with her to doll out the extra money they made and calculating it. If they continued to make more money by the end of next week, then he would be able to give Blaze the raise she needed along with pay for the rent of the building on time.

"I can't believe how today went, I'm so happy." Silver exclaimed.

"I'm proud of you sweetie. I'm glad that with Blaze's help we were able to generate more customers today." Rouge smiled.

"I know, and it's got me thinking on how to keep this going. Blaze's interaction made me think that maybe you can order dessert platters for your club. You always did want to give your customers something to munch on to go with the alcohol. And, maybe I can set up some place, get one of the casuals to walk around the city and passing out sweets while passing out flyers!" Silver was ecstatic.

Rouge giggled. "That's the most I've ever seen you excited, not since you first opened this place."

"I know! It's oddly fulfilling to know that it's not me whose dragging this place down." Silver blurted out.

"I told you, but you never listened." She said in a sing-song voice as she messed up his quills.

Silver chuckled, readjusting them before he got up. "I'm going to put away from stuff. I'll be back soon I promise."

Rouge nodded as he left her office, he grabbed a sheet pan rack and pulled it out front again. They had very little to reuse tomorrow but that's the best he's seen in the year and a half this place has been opened. He took them and put on the trays, ready to be frozen and used tomorrow but he stopped. He looked out the window and saw Shadow again in his shop. He looked like he was bored as he leaned on his countertop. Silver looked down at the various treats he was about to put away and back to Shadow. He watched him for some time before Shadow left his view, out of impulse he gathered up the treats and grabbed a takeout box from under the counter. It was much larger then the ones they usually used as it came with little cardboard to separate and tier the treats for a big order or in-house purchase. He packaged all the sweets, about 15 of them in total were crammed in here, he closed the box and looked back out the window, Shadow was still gone so he looked back down at the box. He bit his lip, an idea came to mind as he grabbed a pen and a business card of his. He wrote a little message down reading:

 _"Hey, sorry for the other day, I was too nervous and distracted. Felt like a complete fool, I found out you liked these and thought you'd appreciate them. :)"_

He wanted to sign his name, but he felt that would destroy the illusion Shadow had of him, so he kept it nameless and tied it with ribbon to the box before he headed out. He walked quickly to Shadow's shop and opened the door, the soft ringing marking his entrance.

"I'll be there in a minute!" Shadow's voice came from a far-off room.

Silver panicked and put the box on the counter before leaving as quickly as he came. He ran back to his shop and hid, peering out to see Shadow come back to the counter. He looked around confused before looking at the box. He looked like he was reading the card and opened the box. He then walked outside and looked from either side of the street, ducking back into cover when he looked across the street. When he thought it was safe to look again, Silver peered out his hiding spot and spotted Shadow taking a cupcake out and biting into it. He looked pleased as he pulled up a chair, putting his feet up on the counter and ate away at his cupcake. Silver blushed and sighed contently, relieved he loved them.

Silver went back to the kitchen with Rouge still in her office, looking at Silver come in.

"Whoa, what's with you?" She asked, sarcastically as if she already knew.

"Nothing." Silver replied, lovestruck and completely consumed by his crush on Shadow.

* * *

 **Three chapters in three days is an accomplishment for me, hope I can keep this train going. Anyways hope you're enjoying this story so far also in the previous chapter I mentioned in a paragraph referencing Blaze's love life as "Girlfriend and her Boyfriend" but changed it as I liked the appeal of Knuckles/Blaze/Shade more and wanted to explore how three stoic like characters in a relationship. Most ships in this will be mainly ones I like or are interested in what I can write for it.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The rest of the week passed by rather smoothly, an influx of customers came in waves throughout each day and tons of in-house orders were made as well as for most of next week. The work that week piled up so much they had to call in Amy Rose and Cream just to help front and in the kitchen. Silver would pat himself on the back, but he had to give thanks to Shadow, without his own bit of advertising they wouldn't have been able to earn so much money. Silver did thank him in his own usual manner, after every shift with bringing him a care package of sweets, he seemed to enjoy them, he ordered a box of sweets along with his standing order. Silver's heart flutter with every time he came into the store, taking a peak from beyond the doors and savoured every glimpse of Shadow he could get. He couldn't believe Shadow made daily trips here.

Blaze and Cream caught Silver by the door a lot of times and each time had to give them off-handed excuses as to why. He heavily suspected Blaze knew, the look she gave him whenever she caught his wandering eye checking Shadow out through the door. The suspicions were correct, she confronted him about his actions. Silver almost had a heart attack about what she would think but she was very accepting and shocked that he never took it further then light stalking. She was cool about it and didn't push him too much on the subject, but she was silent about it during work and only discussed it in private. In return Silver offered his help by listening and comforting her when she talked about her home life and how it got bad at times. She appreciated his aid and was always feeling better emotionally after their conversations.

After the week was done, the weekend was closing time for the shop and time for the employees to relax. It was a lazy Saturday and Silver was still in bed, talking to Blaze through a messenger.

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"You sore from yesterday?"_

 **Silver: "Kind of, hurts to walk."**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"Silver, you were supposed to be wearing your gel soles."_

 **Silver: "I was! They must be so worn out. I need a new pair."**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"Check day is next Friday, maybe you can get some then?"_

 **Silver: "Eh, maybe. Should do it otherwise I'm going to be bedridden due to feet."**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"Tragic."_

 **Silver: "Yeah, what about you? Knuckles and Shade okay?"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"Kind of, Shade has been quiet, and Knuckles is worried."_

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"He's scared she might leave."_

 **Silver: "That's crazy, she wouldn't do that without a good reason."**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"I keep telling him that, but he won't listen."_

 **Silver: "Money again?"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"We're a little tight but I assured them I was going to get paid pretty well next week."_

 **Silver: "Did they buy it?"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"Mostly, Shade is still skeptical, and Knuckles is thinking of abandoning his duty."_

 **Silver: "What?!"**

 **Silver: "He can't do that!"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"I know, I said he shouldn't give it up."_

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"He wouldn't listen to me on that and is looking through the wanted ads."_

 **Silver: "He loves his job, why would he want to give it up?"**

 **Silver: "You said you were getting paid, why doubt you?"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"I don't know, we knew the dangerous of moving in together."_

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"I guess we forgot to take in account of money in that fantasy."_

 **Silver: "Don't worry Blaze, with the new business from Shadow's side, you'll get a raise yet!"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"Speaking of which, you were doing an awful lot of staring and not a lot of baking."_

 **Silver: "Don't you start."**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"I think it's cute seeing you act like a puppy in love."_

 **Silver: "Ha ha."**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"I'm serious Silver, I know love when I see it."_

 **Silver: "I know, just, you have SEEN him, right?"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"Total knockout I know."_

 **Silver: "Then you see my predicament."**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"Yeah, kind of hard to find out how to talk him without stammering."_

 **Silver: "Hey! It was one time!"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"One awkward time."_

 **Silver: "SHHHHH!"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _":)"_

 **Silver: ":C"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"I'm just teasing Silver. You both would be cute together."_

 **Silver: "You think?"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"Absolutely."_

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"You just need to actually talk to him."_

 **Silver: "Yeah but…"**

 **Silver: "What if he doesn't like men?"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"You're kidding right? He owns a tattoo parlour, draws, posts selfies of himself partially naked, 'just got out of bed' selfies, and let's not forget his sense of style; there is no way he's anything but gay."_

 **Silver: "Okay point made, but, what about if it comes to sex?"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"Silver you're as much a man as I am a woman."_

 **Silver: "I guess but, what if he doesn't like what he sees down there?"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"That's his problem, not yours."_

 **Silver: "I guess."**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"It's going to be fine Silver, if Knuckles accepted me and didn't mind what I had then you shouldn't worry about that either."_

 **Silver: "Heh, I suppose. Thanks Blaze."**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"You've been my best friend since I left home. So, I kind of owe you one."_

 **Silver: "Same to you."**

 **Silver: "Gotta go, mum's calling me. Talk to you later."**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"See ya."_

Silver signed out of the messenger and walked outside his bedroom, he walks down the catwalk overlooking both the living room and kitchen until he reached the office, Rouge had been calling him for some time, but he needed to wrap up the conversation with Blaze then just leave mid-conversation. As he entered the room, the size of it was quite small but for business work it was perfect, he saw Rouge was sitting behind a desk with a calculator, a desktop and sheets of paper and folders piled on each other.

"You wanted to see me?" he spoke up.

She looked up from her work and nodded, she handed him a stack of papers.

"Here, look through this." She instructed.

Silver nodded and start reading, these were papers on the profits, costs and salary calculations based off this week for the bakery, he read and flip them through while understanding the math that was being used. He checked and double checked it before looking up.

"This is incredible, not even a week and we've made more then what we usually make in several months!" he exclaimed.

"Mhm, the boost to our sales is certainly proving to be good for business. You might have another worker in your midst if we can keep this up." Rouge explained. "Though, you should go through with your plan to have fresh baked goods and sweets carted around the city, get Amy and Cream to do. If we can get the word out, then we might be looking at a bright future for your shop yet."

"Even brighter then we started?"

"We'll be shining brighter then a diamond if things continue to go as smoothly." Rouge chuckled.

Silver cracked a smile at her jewel analogy, he almost forgot how obsessed his mother was with jewels. His childhood was full of sparkly gemstones and jewelry pasted everywhere, he thinks his pacifier must have been a rounded gem too, but he couldn't recall. If she was comparing his business to that then it must be good.

"I'm proud of you, Silver." Rouge softened her voice, furrowing her brows. "You've proved to me that with little help other then management from me, that you were able to turn a profit solely through your networking skills."

"Aw, thanks but Blaze should get the real credit." He smiled.

"And she will be, with the bonus and raise your going to give her on Friday." Rough reminded him.

"I know, don't worry and with numbers like these, I can pay to have another employee on as well as to give them a higher pay." Silver chuckled.

"Good to know, now, are you going to help with all these calculations and paperwork?" She asked, raising a brow.

Silver laughed, pulling up a chair and turning the computer monitor towards him. Silver and Rouge stayed in the office for most of the day, occasionally heading out to make something to eat before going back to work. Since Rouge helped him with his bakery's paperwork he thought he'd do the same and start arranging and getting them in order. He was surprised about how much everything she used in her club was quite expensive, the employee's paycheques, electricity bill, the padding in the place and even the light up dancefloor was worth more then the avenue it was on. However, looking at the numbers each night out of a year, she was always able to make thrice that amount back to pay her employees and cover the cost of everything else while living pretty on her own pile.

Silver had always been impressed by her success, he couldn't understand how she was able to do this. When he was young he barely saw her and when she was there they were barely making it by but now, they were living in a luxury apartment with an huge amount still left in the bank. Her success was what inspired him to start up his own business as she taught him that if he worked hard enough he too will make it somewhere.

It was a little past into the afternoon where they finally stopped. They put the papers into boxes and filing cabinets and clean off the desk.

"Alright, that should be enough work for today. Better enjoy the rest of it before I had to go into work." Rouge stated, straighten her back.

"Going back to the club?" Silver asked.

"Yeah, gotta make my grand appearance this weekend or else I'll be missed." Rouge struck a pose.

Silver chuckled. "You're silly."

"Mhm, you got anything planned for today?"

"Not really, maybe I could go visit Blaze or go out to dinner with Blaze and her partners." Silver shrugged.

"That could be fun, remember to pay for them. Stubborn oafs would try to pay when they barely have anything to rub together." Rouge commented.

"Yeah, wished they wouldn't be stubborn about accepting money from friends." Silver added. "But I can't change that, I can only hope to give Blaze a raise."

"Mhm, I'm thinking of persuading Shade to work as a bouncer. That woman is a beast when it comes to physical strength." Rouge did a little gesture of a strong person as she referred to Shade.

Silver has seen Shade on a few occasions and like Knuckles she was strong and built like it too. However, her being a bouncer probably wouldn't bode to well, the scenario going off going off his mind wasn't a pretty one. Shade standing outside Club Rouge and pulling out a weapon for the minor offenses.

"I don't think that's a good idea…" He said quietly.

"Nah, she'll be fine. If she can accept it that is." Rouge sighed. "Oh well, off you go. Go spend your day well."

She shooed him out of her office, Silver just laughed as she gently pushed him out and closed the door. Silver went back to his room to get a change of clothes and his towel, he looked at his still opened laptop. Maybe a night out with Blaze, Knuckles and Shade wouldn't be so bad. He walked over, turning it back on and started typing in the messenger. Blaze was still considered logged on, so she might see this.

 **Silver: "Blaze, you want to take Knuckles and Shade for dinner and a movie with me?"**

Silver waited a moment, he didn't see the message that she was typing. He waited long until he saw it. He waited anxiously for her message.

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"They're okay with it, you paying?"_

 **Silver: "Of course, gotta make sure you make it through most of next week ;p"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"Knuckles won't be happy with that, but I think I can handle him."_

 **Silver: "Blaze use your special – KISS ATTACK!"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"He has resistance to that, I need to pull out my ultimate – SUPER MAKEOUT SESS!"_

 **Silver: "Blaze no! you need your strength for game night with me!"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"Don't worry, I'll purchase mana candy and have enough energy for later tonight!"_

 **Silver: "Pfft, we're so silly :p"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"Comes with us both being nerds."_

 **Silver: "True, around 4 I'll pick you up in my car and we'll head off to some place cool to eat."**

 **Silver: "What are you feeling like eating?"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"A burger joint, just to go easy on your wallet."_

 **Silver: "Aww and not at some fancy restaurant?"**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"Yeah, I'll take Knuckles out when I get paid ;3c"_

 **Silver: ":o"**

 **Silver: "Blaze you sly cat."**

 _ **Blaze:**_ _"You know it, see you then okay?"_

 **Silver: "K, bye!"**

Silver smiled, logging out and setting his laptop on his end table. He grabbed his clothes and towel, heading towards the bathroom to get ready for a fun night-out.

* * *

 **Took awhile to write as I had to get my NaNoWriMo project chapters up first but hope you don't mind.**

 **I was thinking of how ridiculous I should go with this story and reference real-world places even more then just instagram and see how I lose my audience's suspence of disbelief. But I kind of wanted to include Blaze more in the story and include her struggles along with Silver.**

 **It's just something I'm experimenting with for now at least but don't worry, Silver/Shadow moments are on the rise ;p wait for the next chapter.**


End file.
